asked him to buy for
her.

His visit was not altogether displeasing. No woman is quite indifferent
to a man who admires her in the hearty, wholesale way which De Burgh did
not try to conceal. Katherine was much too feminine not to like the
incense of his devotion, especially when he kept it within certain
limits. She did not credit him with any deep feeling; but in spite of
her strong conviction that he was attracted by her money, she recognized
a certain sincerity in his liking for herself. She enjoyed the idea of
humbling his immense assurance, believing that any pain she might
inflict would be short-lived, while he was amazed to find how swiftly
the hours flew past when he allowed himself to spend a couple of days at
Sandbourne--surprised to feel so little of the contemptuous bitterness
with which he generally regarded his fellow-creatures, and sometimes
wondered if it were possible that something more simple than even his
boyish self had come back to him.

Still, Bertie Payne was a more welcome guest than De Burgh, in spite of
his unspoken but evident devotion. With Bertie she could speak openly of
matters on which she would not touch when with the other. To Bertie she
could talk of the mysteries of life, and argue on questions of belief.
She was touched by the eagerness he showed to convert her to his own
extremely evangelical views, and though differing from him on many
points, she deeply respected the sincerity of his convictions.

The degree of favor shown by her to "that psalm-singing Puritan," as De
Burgh termed him, was gall and wormwood to the latter, and indeed so
irritated his spirit that he was driven to speak of the annoyance it
caused him to Mrs. Ormonde, of whose discretion and judgment he had but
a poor opinion.

Meantime no one heard or saw anything of Errington, who was supposed to
be deep in the settlement of his father's affairs, and winding up the
estate, as the well-known house of Errington ceased to exist when the
head and founder was no more. Lady Alice had gone to stay with her
brother and sister-in-law, who lived abroad, as it was impossible for
her to enter into the gayeties of the season under existing
circumstances, and the marriage was postponed until the end of July.

In short, a lull had stilled the actors in this little drama. The stream
of events had entered one of the quiet pools which here and there hold
the most rapid current tranquil for a time.

With Mrs. Ormonde all went